Strap-fastener.



No 787,335. PATENTED APR. 11, 1905. W. D. LAMBERT.

STRAP PASTENBE.

APPLICATION TILED MAY 5, 1904.

Patented April 11, 1905.

PATENT @FETQE.

WILLIAM l). LAMBERT. OF lL-XYERIIILL, .\IASSAGHUSETTS.

STRAP-FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,335, dated April 11, 1905.

Application filed May 5,1904. Serial No. 206,425.

7/71 II'IlI'HIH i/ fW/MfPPTI/I l ofaslightly-modilied form of the buckle. Fig. 5

be it known that l, \VILLIAM l). LAMBERT, it) is a cross section on line .1 .r of Fig. b. of l'laverhill. county of Essex, State of Massa- As shown in the drawings, the strap a is chusetts. have. invented an Improvement in provided with a buckle which consists of a ..j Straw-Fasteners. of which the following desingle continuous piece of still spring-wire scription.inconnectionwiththeaccompanying .1 bent to form the various parts now to be de- 7 drawings, is a specification, like character-son scribed. A supporting-bar isarranged in the the drawings representinglike parts. usual loop formed in one end of the strap. This invention relat s to certain improvesaid bar extending transversely of the strap. .I' IO ments in strapfasteners, which. while espe- An arm wextends longitlulinally from one end cially adapted for use by letter-carriers in of the bar at approximately right angles r strappingtogetherbundlesofmail-matter.are thereto. and a strap-engaging bar extends a also adapted for the general purposes of an transversely from the end of the arm (2 in i. ordinary buckle. front of bar 6, the free end of said bar (I being 5 The objects of my invention are to provide bent downwardly to provide a strap-retaining a particular form of buckle which is not only linger 1:, and the bars I) and 1/ and the arm e 5 adapted to hold a thick, lirm. or rough strap are located, preferably, amn'oximately in the securely atany point, butwhich isalso adapted same plane. A looped-shaped portionf'isar to hold a worn, soft, thin. slippery, or oily 3 ranged above bar and in a plane approxi- O strap as well; which enables a bundle to be mately perpendicular to the plane of bars 5 fastened and imfastened with the greatest faand said loop extending from the opposite 7 cility: which isadapted to be adjusted or bent 3 end of the bar /1 from the arm (1 to a point a readily. so that it may be always made to enshort distance above but closely adjacent its gage lirmly the strap to which it is connected other end. The loopf may be semicircular Q J 5 whatever the condition of the strap may be: i or rectangular in form, as shown in Figs. 5

which permits the strap to be introduced into l and El, respectively. according to the special the buckle transversely at any point, so that purpose for which the buckle is to be used. f the necessity of passing the end of the strap An arm 1/ extends from the free end of the through the buckle is avoided, thereby peri looped portion j" at a short distance above 3 mitting a snap-hook to be employed at the and approximately parallel to the arm e. and end of the strap. so that the bundle which is a strap-holding bar extends from the end of held by the strap may be readily and securely the arm 1/ approximately at rightangles thereattached to the rings of a carrierslmg; which to and approximately parallel to the bar (1, permits the ready substitution of one buckle although it is preferably made to converge 35 for another in case of breakage without unl slightly with bar 6. so that all the bars will fastening the usual loop formed at the buckle l be parallel when the parts are under tension. 5 end of the strap. and which is simple and The arm is somewhatshorter thanarm r, so ctunparatively inexpensive to manufacture. l that bar /1 is held between bars and (I and Iaccomplishthcse objects by themeans shown l above the plane thereof, the space between 4 in the accompanying drawings. in which bars 17 and being sullicient to permit the r Figure 1 is a plan view of a strap and buci ready introductionofthestrzmedgewisethere 9 kle made according to my invention. Fig. between. The bar is provided with a strap- 2 is a side elevation thereof. Figs. 3 and 1t 1 retaining linger at its free end. The oppoare side elevations showing two positions of site end of the strap from the buckle is pro- 45 my device when applied to a bundle of leti vided with a loop, in which a snap-hook A' of ters: and Figs. 5, (3. and T are respectively common form is secured. front, side, and perspective views of the The manner of securing a bundle of letters 1 buckle disconnected from the strap. Figs. or other matter by means of my device is as h and E) are side and front views, respectively, follows: The bundle is held in the hand and the strap passed about it, the thumb being pressed upon the loop f, so that the arms 0 and g are thrown into a Vertical position with relation to the surface of the bundle, as shown in Fig. 3. A loop is then formed in the strap, which is passed over the end of the bar it, one side portion of the loop passing between the bars (Z and it, so that both side portions pass beneath the bar (Z. The loop f is then released, so that the arm 0 may rest on the bundle, and the end of the strap is pulled, so that it slides over and about the arm it until all the slack is taken up. Before the strap is pulled tight the arm g is held out of contact with arm 0, and bar 71 is held above the plane of bars Z) andcZ, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3; but as the strap is pulled tight about bar it its arm will be drawn down against the lower arm 0, the interposed loopf then yielding and acting as a stiff spring. The barZ) being held in the loop of the strap acts as a pivot,so that when arm g is pulled down it will cause arm 0 and bar (Z to be swung downward by a force equal to the tension of the interposed spring until the arm g is forced against arm 0, and then the bar 7L will almost have a direct pull down on the bar (Z through the action of the strap thereon. The resulting action of the strap on bar 71 causes the bar (Z to be pressed firmly against the strap as it passes beneath it, said bar (Z in turn pressing the double fold of the strap beneath it against the surface of the package, so that the friction of the strap against the package, against itself, and against the two bars (Z and it prevents it from slipping at all about the bar 71 and becoming loosened on the package. As the strap-engaging bar (Z is connected to the supporting-bar Z), to which the end of the strap is fastened and which practically constitutes the body of the buckle by a practically rigid connection, and as. the strap-loop-holding bar it is connected to bar Z) by the loop f, the end thereof which is connected to arm g is adapted to yield both horizontally and vertically of the buckle, and as there is no special tendency to draw bar (Z away from bar Z) when the strap is tightened and practically the whole pull on the strap is applied to bar it it follows that there is a strong tendency as the strap is tightened to draw the bar A toward bar '(Z, which is permitted by the yielding of the loop f. It follows, therefore, that as the strap is tightened it will draw the bar it toward the bar (Z' to an extent directly proportional to the strain upon the strap, and as the closer the bars 72/ and (Z are together the more tightly will the strap be held by the buckle it follows that the force With which the buckle grips the strap will vary directly with the strain thereon. The pull on the strap also springs the free end of bar It down toward the package to some extent, so that the strap lies against the bundle from a point directly beneath said bar to a point beneath the bar 6.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the greater the tension which can be placed on the springs of the buckle and the greater the tension which can be placed on the package by the strap, if the package is even slightly elastic, the greater will be the combined tendencies to prevent the strap from slipping. Thus it will be seen that the very forces which tend to loosen the strap tend to tighten the hold of the buckle upon itthat is, they tend to increase the force with which the bar (Z is pressed against the strap and which in turn presses the inner face of the strap against the package and its two outer faces together. In this connection it will be noted that when the strap does slip about bar ZL these surfaces move in opposite directions on each other.

In case it is found that the bars (Z and it are so far apart that insufficient friction is placed upon the strap to hold it it is simply necessary to press the bars (Z and it together with pliers or other convenient means. This transverse adjustment of the bars (Z it without bending the buckle out of shape or disturbing the approximate parallelism of said bars is made possible by the location of the loop f, which constitutes a portion of the connection between the loop-holding bar it and the supporting-bar Z) in a plane or position at an angle to the planes of said bars and their connecting-arms, thereby permitting the wire at the ends of the loop to be twisted slightly as the loop is drawn into a slightly-oblique position to permit the bar it to be moved transversely toward bar (Z. The same action takes place when the strap is tightened as before described; but in the latter instance the movement of the bar it toward the bar (Z is usually not sufficient to "set the wire in a different position. To disengage the bars from the strap, it is simply necessary to press back the loopf so as to lift the arm (Z out of holding engagement with the inner side of the strap, so that when the loop is moved back so that the parts are in the position of Fig. 3 the strap may be readily slipped out of engagement with the bars (Z and h. It will be noted in this connection that the strap-retaining fingers and 5 not only extend in opposite directions, but also in directions approximately parallel to the plane of the loop f, so that when said loop is pressed against the package, as in Fig. 3, said fingers are then in a position in which they will not materially interfere with theready removal of the straploop from the strap-receiving passage between the holding and engaging bars'that is, the finger will then lie nearly parallel to the strap as it is drawn from bar h to the bundle and the finger i will then lie in the direction of the strap-loop.

, In case it is desired to make ahandle of the end of the strap or to attach the package to a ring or any other support it is simply necessary to catch the snap-hook 7c into the loop f,

as shown in Fig. i, the hook first being passed through the supporting-ring if it is desired to attach the bundle to the ring.

In case the wire should become broken for any reason the two arms (3 and 7 may be sprung apart and the detective buckle removed by witlnlrawing the bar u, arm 1, and bar (I from the loop in the strap. In a similar manner a new buckle may be substituted.

'lhe strap-retaining end portions or lingers w and y/ are preferably located as shown, the linger 1 being long enough to extend over the thickness of the strap when doubled and the linger being located so as to engage some part of the semicircular portion of the loop in the strap as it passes about bar in Figs. h, f), and 10 i show a modilied form of buckle, which is especially adapted to be used without thesnap-hook. In this instance the loop is made rectangular and provides a space between it and the bar 7/ to permit the end ot' the strap to be passed theretln'ough, as shown in Figs. 8 and 1e. \Vith this arrangement the strap is not only held with additional security by the buckle, but the strap end prevents the loop from being tipped back so as to loosen the hold of the buckle on the strap. thereby making the buckle particularly desirable for use as a trunk-strap and for similar purposes.

While 1 have shown the parts of the buckle in a form which i consider most desirable, l have found that the parts may be somewhat ditierently associated without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

llaving thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a strap-buckle the combination with a strap-supporting bar, of a tree-ended, straploop-holding bar, and a tree-ended strap-engaging bar, adjacently disposed in parallelism. and yieldingly connected at their corresponding ends to said supporting-bar, thereby providing at their free ends an open strapreeeiving passage. substantially as described.

2. In a strap-buckle the combination with a strap-su pporting bar, of a free-ended, straploopholding bar, and a free-ended strap-en gaging bar, adjaccntly disposed in parallelism, the former above the latter, and yieldingly connected at their correspomling ends hi a strap-buckle the combination with a strap-supporting bar, of a free-ended, straploop-holding bar, and a tree-ended strap-engaging bar, adjacently disposed in parallelism, connected at corresponding ends to said supporting-bar and relatively yielding transversely of the buckle, thereby providing at their free ends an open, strap-receiving passage, substantially as described.

i. A strap-buckle comprising a strap-supporting bar, a strap-loop-holding bar, and a strap-engaging bar, said engaging bar being connected at one end to one end of said supporting-bar, and a spring-wire loop connected at one end to the opposite end of said supporting-bar, and arranged in a plane at an angle to the plane of said bars, said holding-bar being connected at one end to the opposite end of said loop, substantially as described.

5. A strap-buckle comprising a strap-supporting bar, a strap-loop-holding bar, and a strap-engaging bar, said engaging bar being connected at one end to one end of said supporting-bar, a spring-wire loop connected at one end to the opposite end of said supporting-bar, and arranged in a plane at an angle to the plane of said bars, said holding-barbeing connected at one end to the opposite end of said loop, the opposite ends of said holding and engaging bars being free and providing at their free ends an open, strap-receiving passage, substantially as described.

(3. A strap-buckle comprising a strap-supporting bar, a strap-loop-holding bar, and a strap-engaging bar, said engaging bar being connected at one end to one end of said supporting-bar. a spring-wire loop connected at one end to the opposite end of said supporting-bar, and arranged in a plane at an angle to the plane of said bars, said holding-bar being connected at one end to the opposite end of said loop, the opposite ends of said holding and engaging bars being free and providing at their free ends an open strap-receiving passage, and strap-retaining lingers at the free ends of said holding and engaging bars extending in opposite directions approximately parallel to the plane of said loop, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

\V1LLIA.\I l). LAMBER".

\Vitncsses:

LoUIs H. I'IAHRIMAN, ll. 1-3. DAVIS. 

